Scott Fleary Productions were appointed to deliver the scenic and structural fit-out for the new permanent home of MasterChef inside Birmingham’s Grade II listed Banana Warehouse in Digbeth. The building is around 200 years old, with its conversion into a purpose-built television studio formed part of the wider regeneration of Digbeth’s industrial heritage, which made the approach to the building as important as the build itself.

Working closely with Vagabond Design, led by founder Rudi Thackray and in collaboration with Paul Drake, the team supported the creative vision through early sampling and prototyping, allowing materials and finishes to be tested and refined before full-scale production began. The entire set was prefabricated in Scott Fleary’s South London workshops, which gave the team much greater control over quality and coordination before anything arrived on site.

The design challenge Vagabond faced was meaningful. MasterChef carries a fiercely loyal audience and a visual identity built over decades, so any redesign had to feel considered rather than disruptive, while also adapting convincingly to a space with its own strong architectural character. One of the more exacting aspects of Scott Fleary’s contribution was the scenic brickwork, which needed to be read as a natural continuation of the existing Victorian masonry. Brick arches, corbels and borders were modelled to historic brick dimensions, then hand finished and scenically painted to integrate with the warehouse walls around them. Given that this is a permanent standing set, everything was built with long-term durability in mind.

Beyond the scenic elements, a significant portion of the work involved integrating services within the refurbished shell. Sub-floor construction, cable management and access hatches ran throughout the main studio corridor, Critics’ Room and Contestants’ Room, while mezzanine platforms, balcony structures and marketplace steelwork added further structural complexity. The irregular geometry of the building meant that setting-out and problem-solving had to happen in real time, with scenic flats and architectural features adjusted on site as constraints emerged.

Installation ran for over eight weeks, carefully sequenced to manage shared access with other contractors working within the building. Scott Fleary is grateful to Shine TV and Vagabond Design for the opportunity to contribute to the new MasterChef studio and to play a part in the continuing regeneration of Digbeth’s creative quarter.